The challenge that is coaching Team India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India made Gautam Gambhir’s appointment official on Tuesday, although this was pretty much a done deal and there were no other really major candidates in the fray. His success as mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League showed him to be a smart tactician and a builder of teams as well. In his role as mentor for the Lucknow Super Kings, he found a way to do the same. His intensity, seen by some as a disadvantage, actually works well in the context of building and motivating high-performing teams.
But as Anil Kumble can probably tell him, coaching Team India is a different cup of tea altogether. One of Gambhir’s main tasks will be to win over the dressing room, one used to Rahul Dravid’s understated way of working. And that will call for greater tact on his part. Young players in the team will likely have no problem — he’ll push them hard, back them to the hilt and reward their successes. But the seniors have played with and against him, have heard him speak critically about them on news channels and know that he doesn’t like to take prisoners.
Gambhir likes to have a say in how things unfold unlike Dravid, or Ravi Shastri (who came before). They firmly believed that it was the captain’s team, and their job was mainly to help it function at its best. At some point during his three-year stint, the new coach will also have to take a call on the future of some of the seniors, and that may test him too. Gambhir starts with the team on a high, thanks to a World Cup win — but that just raises expectations of his own stint.